The NBA is know for streaks, and all too often, fans extrapolate a current trend too quickly. A three game losing skid isn’t quite the same as the massive losing streak the Cleveland Cavaliers put together earlier this year, but it will still cause a lot of hand wringing.
To be sure, the Lakers have endured troubled stretches in the past, but this time it looks like things might be different. The loss to Cleveland might be considered an aberration, a mere blip on the radar due to the upcoming All-Star break. Except, this isn’t a blip, it’s been three straight losses in ugly fashion, with mistakes usually reserved for bad high school teams. During the loss to the ailing Cavs, Kobe and company looked like rank amateurs, with Pau Gasol throwing a pass into the stands and the team displaying an incredible inability to control tempo.
Even though, recently, the team had looked much better in wins over New York and Boston, they’ve once again found themselves looking like bottom dwellers. This has caused the fans to question whether the team is getting too old. Kobe Bryant has stated earlier this season that even though he’s not ready for retirement, he can see the end in sight. Once a player starts talking about that, it may only be a matter of time.
The loss to Cleveland was so disheartening that head coach Phil Jackson offered little in the way of response to reporters’ questions and even less in an address to the team. He simply told the team what time to be at the next practice and told reporters that he felt the team had already mentally gone on break.
The only saving factor in this stretch of losses may be the fact that the team is at the end of a 7 game road trip, dubbed by the media as the Grammy Road Trip because both they and the Clippers must vacate L.A. while the music awards take over the town for over a week.
